Data for industry are coded using the Australia and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). The industry classification is updated periodically to take account of emerging industries and changes in the structure of the economy.
The industry classification was last updated in 2006 (ANZSIC06).
For more information please refer to the 2006 Census Dictionary, and ANZSIC classification.
To find out a specific industry's group please use the Australian Bureau of Statistics ANZSIC Search Facility.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, includes all units mainly engaged in 'agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting'and includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Mining, includes all units mainly engaged in 'mining', in exploration for minerals, and in the provision of a wide variety of services to mining and mineral exploration, as well as mining units under development and all supplementary activities aimed at preparing the crude materials for marketing.
The Mining Division excludes units mainly engaged in refining or smelting of minerals or ores, or in the manufacture of such products of mineral origin as coke or cement. Many businesses which have mining units also have manufacturing units which further process the mined material. Where separate accounts are not available, the unit (which both mined and further processed the material) is to be classified under Manufacturing.
Mining includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Manufacturing includes all units involved in the physical or chemical transformation of materials or components into new products.
Manufacturing includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Electricity, Gas and Water Supply, includes all units mainly engaged in the generation, transmission or distribution of electricity; the manufacture of town gas from coal and/or petroleum or the distribution of manufactured town gas, natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas through a mains reticulation system; the storage, purification or supply of water; or the operation of sewerage or drainage systems including sewage treatment plants.
Electricity, Gas and Water Supply includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Construction, includes all units mainly engaged in constructing buildings (including the on-site assembly and erection of prefabricated buildings), roads, railroads, aerodromes, irrigation projects, harbour or river works, water, gas, sewerage or stormwater drains or mains, electricity or other transmission lines or towers, pipelines, oil refineries or other civil engineering projects. Also includes units engaged in the repair of buildings (and other structures) and the alteration or renovation of buildings, preparation of mine sites, demolition or excavation. Includes Units engaged in installation activities (including heating and air conditioning equipment, fire alarm systems, blinds and awnings, petrol bowsers, elctrical wiring and the on-site assembly of boilers). Includes units mainly engaged in construction trade services such as structural steel erection, carpentry, bricklaying, concreting, plumbing, painting, plastering, tiling and the installation or laying of floor coverings.
Excludes units mainly engaged in installing household appliances not requiring electrical or plumbing work in order to be installed (Retail Trade). Also excludes units mainly engaged in installing lifts, escalators, factory assembled boilers or "built-in" furniture (Manufacturing). Note that units of the defence forces engaged in construction activities are excluded in this Division (Government Administration and Defence).
Construction includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The term 'wholesale trade' is used here in the broad sense to include the resale (as agents or principals) of new or used goods to businesses or to institutional (including Government) users. Businesses mainly engaged in wholesale trade are wholesale merchants who take title to the goods they sell; separate sales branches (not being retail stores) operated by manufacturing enterprises; commission agents, import and export agents and purchasing agents; petroleum products distributors; and cooperatives and marketing boards engaged in marketing farm products. Units mainly engaged in reselling their own goods by auction are included in this Division, but units which are mainly engaged in providing auctioning services for others are not (Property and Business Services). Where units have goods manufactured for them on commission or contract and have no goods producing facilities itself then all its sales of goods produced for it on commission are classified as wholesale or retail sales.
Wholesale Trade includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Retail Trade, includes all units mainly engaged in the resale of new or used goods to final consumers for personal or household consumption or in selected repair activities such as repair of household equipment or motor vehicles. Businesses engaged in retail trade include department stores or other shops, motor vehicle retailers and service outlets, stalls, mail order houses, hawkers, door-to-door sellers, milk vendors, vending machine operators and consumer cooperatives. Units mainly selling goods on a commission basis to final consumers for personal or household consumption are included. However, cafes, restaurants, hotels and motels are included in Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants. Units mainly engaged in reselling their own goods by auction are included in this Division, but units which are mainly engaged in providing auctioning services for others are included in Property and Business Services.
Retail Trade includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants, includes all units mainly engaged in providing hospitality services in the form of accommodation, meals and drinks.
Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Transport and Storage, includes all units mainly engaged in providing passenger or freight transport by road, rail, water or air; terminal facilities for passengers or freight; services related to transport such as car parking, stevedoring, harbour services, navigation services, airport operation or space port operation; booking, travel, freight forwarding, crating or customs agency services; and storage facilities. Units mainly engaged in operating pipelines for the transportation of oil, gas, etc., on a contract or fee basis are included in this Division.
Transport and Storage includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Communication Services, includes all units mainly engaged in providing postal, courier and telecommunication services.
Communication Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Finance and Insurance, includes all units mainly engaged in the provision of finance, in investing money in predominantly financial assets, in providing services to lenders, borrowers and investors, in providing insurance cover of all types, and in providing services to insurance underwriters and to people or organisations seeking insurance.
Finance and Insurance includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Property and Business Services, includes all units predominantly engaged in renting and leasing assets as well as units engaged in providing a wide variety of business services.
Property and Business Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Government Administration and Defence, includes all Central, State and Local Government units mainly engaged in government administration and regulatory activities, as well as judicial authorities and commissions, representatives of overseas governments, and the Army, Navy and Air Defence forces and civilian units mainly engaged in defence administration. The industry class for Defence excludes units mainly engaged in manufacturing activities (such as naval dockyards and munitions factories) and units mainly engaged in operating colleges or similar educational institutions for the defence forces.
Government Administration and Defence includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Education includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Health and Community Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Cultural and Recreational Services, includes all units mainly engaged in providing cultural and recreational facilities and services.
Cultural and Recreational Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
Personal and Other Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Division includes units mainly engaged in growing crops, raising animals, growing and harvesting timber, and harvesting fish and other animals from farms or their natural habitats. The division makes a distinction between two basic activities: production and support services to production. Included as production activities are horticulture, livestock production, aquaculture, forestry and logging, and fishing, hunting and trapping.
The term 'agriculture' is used broadly to refer to both the growing and cultivation of horticultural and other crops (excluding forestry), and the controlled breeding, raising or farming of animals (excluding aquaculture).
Aquacultural activities include the controlled breeding, raising or farming of fish, molluscs and crustaceans.
Forestry and logging activities include growing, maintaining and harvesting forests, as well as gathering forest products.
Fishing, hunting and trapping includes gathering or catching marine life such as fish or shellfish, or other animals, from their uncontrolled natural environments in water or on land.
Also included in the division are units engaged in providing support services to the units engaged in production activities.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Mining Division includes units that mainly extract naturally occurring mineral solids, such as coal and ores; liquid minerals, such as crude petroleum; and gases, such as natural gas. The term mining is used in the broad sense to include underground or open cut mining; dredging; quarrying; well operations or evaporation pans; recovery from ore dumps or tailings as well as beneficiation activities (i.e. preparing, including crushing, screening, washing and flotation) and other preparation work customarily performed at the mine site, or as a part of mining activity.
The Mining Division distinguishes two basic activities: mine operation and mining support activities.
Mine operation includes units operating mines, quarries, or oil and gas wells on their own account, or for others on a contract or fee basis, as well as mining sites under development.
Mining support activities include units that perform mining services on a contract or fee basis, and exploration (except geophysical surveying).
Units in the Mining Division are grouped and classified according to the natural resource mined or to be mined. Industries include units that extract natural resources, and/or those that beneficiate the mineral mined. Beneficiation is the process whereby the extracted material is reduced to particles that can be separated into mineral and waste, the former suitable for further processing or direct use. The operations that take place in beneficiation are primarily mechanical, such as grinding, washing, magnetic separation, and centrifugal separation. In contrast, manufacturing operations primarily use chemical and electro-chemical processes, such as electrolysis and distillation.
The Manufacturing Division includes units mainly engaged in the physical or chemical transformation of materials, substances or components into new products (except agriculture and construction).
Units in the Manufacturing Division are often described as plants, factories or mills and characteristically use power-driven machines and other materials-handling equipment. However, units that transform materials, substances or components into new products by hand, or in the unit's home, are also included. Activities undertaken by units incidental to their manufacturing activity, such as selling directly to the consumer products manufactured on the same premises from which they are sold, such as bakeries and custom tailors, are also included in the division. If, in addition to self-produced products, other products that are not manufactured by the same unit are also sold, the rules for the treatment of mixed activities have to be applied and units classified according to their predominant activity.
The subdivisions in the Manufacturing Division include:
The Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services Division comprises units engaged in the provision of electricity; gas through mains systems; water; drainage; and sewage services. This division also includes units mainly engaged in the collection, treatment and disposal of waste materials; remediation of contaminated materials (including land); and materials recovery activities.
Electricity supply activities include the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and the on-selling of electricity via power distribution systems operated by others.
Gas supply includes the distribution of gas, such as natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas, through mains systems.
Water supply includes the storage, treatment and distribution of water; drainage services include the operation of drainage systems; and sewage services include the collection, treatment and disposal of waste through sewer systems and sewage treatment facilities.
Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Construction Division includes units mainly engaged in the construction of buildings and other structures, additions, alterations, reconstruction, installation, and maintenance and repairs of buildings and other structures.
Units engaged in demolition or wrecking of buildings and other structures, and clearing of building sites are included in Division E Construction. It also includes units engaged in blasting, test drilling, landfill, levelling, earthmoving, excavating, land drainage and other land preparation.
The Wholesale Trade Division includes units mainly engaged in the purchase and onselling, the commission-based buying, and the commission-based selling of goods, without significant transformation, to businesses. Units are classified to the Wholesale Trade Division in the first instance if they buy goods and then onsell them (including on a commission basis) to businesses.
Wholesalers' premises are usually a warehouse or office with little or no display of their goods, large storage facilities, and are not generally located or designed to attract a high proportion of walk-in customers. Wholesaling is often characterised by high value and/or bulk volume transactions, and customers are generally reached through trade-specific contacts.
The Wholesale Trade Division distinguishes two types of wholesalers:
A unit which sells to both businesses and the general public will be classified to the Wholesale Trade Division if it operates from premises such as warehouses or offices with little or no display of goods, has large storage facilities, and is not generally located or designed to attract a high proportion of walk-in customers
For units that have goods manufactured for them on commission and then sell those goods, the following treatment guidelines are to be followed:
As a result, units that have goods manufactured for them on commission will be included in the Wholesale Trade Division where they do not own the material inputs to the manufacturing process, but take title to the outputs and sell them in the manner prescribed above for typical wholesaling units.
The Retail Trade Division includes units mainly engaged in the purchase and onselling, the commission-based buying, and the commission-based selling of goods, without significant transformation, to the general public. The Retail Trade Division also includes units that purchase and onsell goods to the general public using non-traditional means, including the internet. Units are classified to the Retail Trade Division in the first instance if they buy goods and then onsell them (including on a commission basis) to the general public.
Retail units generally operate from premises located and designed to attract a high volume of walk-in customers, have an extensive display of goods, and/or use mass media advertising designed to attract customers. The display and advertising of goods may be physical or electronic.
Physical display and advertising includes shops, printed catalogues, billboards and print advertisements. Electronic display and advertising includes catalogues, internet websites, television and radio advertisements and infomercials. While non-store retailers, by definition, do not posses the physical characteristics of traditional retail units with a physical shop-front location, these units share the requisite function of the purchasing and onselling of goods to the general public, and are therefore included in this division. A unit which sells to both businesses and the general public will be classified to the Retail Trade Division if it operates from shop-front premises, arranges and displays stock to attract a high proportion of walk-in customers and utilises mass media advertising to attract customers.
The Accommodation and Food Services Division includes units mainly engaged in providing short-term accommodation for visitors. Also included are units mainly engaged in providing food and beverage services, such as the preparation and serving of meals and the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption by customers, both on and off-site.
Accommodation and Food Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Transport, Postal and Warehousing Division includes units mainly engaged in providing transportation of passengers and freight by road, rail, water or air. Other transportation activities such as postal services, pipeline transport and scenic and sightseeing transport are included in this division.
Units mainly engaged in providing goods warehousing and storage activities are also included.
The division also includes units mainly engaged in providing support services for the transportation of passengers and freight. These activities include stevedoring services, harbour services, navigation services, airport operations and customs agency services.
Transport, Postal and Warehousing includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Information Media and Telecommunications Division includes units mainly engaged in:
Information products are defined as those which are not necessarily tangible, and, unlike traditional goods, are not associated with a particular form. The value of the information products is embedded in their content rather than in the format in which they are distributed. For example, a movie can be screened at a cinema, telecast on television or copied to video for sale or rental. The division includes some activities that primarily create, enhance and disseminate information products, subject to copyright.
It is the intangible nature of the information products which determines their unique dissemination process, which may include via a broadcast, electronic means, or physical form. They do not usually require direct contact between the supplier/producer and the consumer, which distinguishes them from distribution activities included in the Wholesale Trade and Retail Trade Divisions.
Excluded from the division are units mainly engaged in:
Information Media and Telecommunications includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Financial and Insurance Services Division includes units mainly engaged in financial transactions involving the creation, liquidation, or change in ownership of financial assets, and/or in facilitating financial transactions.
The range of activities include raising funds by taking deposits and/or issuing securities and, in the process, incurring liabilities; units investing their own funds in a range of financial assets; pooling risk by underwriting insurance and annuities; separately constituted funds engaged in the provision of retirement incomes; and specialised services facilitating or supporting financial intermediation, insurance and employee benefit programs.
Also included in this division are central banking, monetary control and the regulation of financial activities.
Financial and Insurance Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services Division includes units mainly engaged in renting, hiring, or otherwise allowing the use of tangible or intangible assets (except copyrights), and units providing related services.
The assets may be tangible, as in the case of real estate and equipment, or intangible, as in the case with patents and trademarks.
The division also includes units engaged in providing real estate services such as selling, renting and/or buying real estate for others, managing real estate for others and appraising real estate.
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Division includes units mainly engaged in providing professional, scientific and technical services. Units engaged in providing these services apply common processes where labour inputs are integral to the production or service delivery. Units in this division specialise and sell their expertise. In most cases, equipment and materials are not major inputs. The activities undertaken generally require a high level of expertise and training and formal (usually tertiary level) qualifications.
These services include scientific research, architecture, engineering, computer systems design, law, accountancy, advertising, market research, management and other consultancy, veterinary science and professional photography.
Excluded are units mainly engaged in providing health care and social assistance services, which are included in Division Q Health Care and Social Assistance.
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Administrative and Support Services Division includes units mainly engaged in performing routine support activities for the day-to-day operations of other businesses or organisations.
Units providing administrative support services are mainly engaged in activities such as office administration; hiring and placing personnel for others; preparing documents; taking orders for clients by telephone; providing credit reporting or collecting services; and arranging travel and travel tours.
Units providing other types of support services are mainly engaged in activities such as building and other cleaning services; pest control services; gardening services; and packaging products for others.
The activities undertaken by units in this division are often integral parts of the activities of units found in all sectors of the economy. Recent trends have moved more towards the outsourcing of such non-core activities. The units classified in this division specialise in one or more of these activities and can, therefore, provide services to a variety of clients.
Administrative and Support Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Public Administration and Safety Division includes units mainly engaged in Central, State or Local Government legislative, executive and judicial activities; in providing physical, social, economic and general public safety and security services; and in enforcing regulations. Also included are units of military defence, government representation and international government organisations.
Central, State or Local Government legislative, executive and judicial activities include the setting of policy; the oversight of government programs; collecting revenue to fund government programs; creating statute laws and by-laws; creating case law through the judicial processes of civil, criminal and other courts; and distributing public funds.
The provision of physical, social, economic and general public safety and security services, and enforcing regulations, includes units that provide police services; investigation and security services; fire protection and other emergency services; correctional and detention services; regulatory services; border control; and other public order and safety services.
Also included are units of military defence, government representation and international government organisations.
Government ownership is not a criterion for classification to this industry division. Government units producing 'private sector like' goods and services are classified to the same industry as private sector units engaged in similar activities. Private sector units engaged in public administration or military defence are classified to the Public Administration and Safety Division. Units that engage in a combination of public administration and service delivery activities are to be classified to this division.
Public Administration and Safety includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Education and Training Division includes units mainly engaged in the provision and support of education and training, except those engaged in the training of animals e.g. dog obedience training, horse training.
Education may be provided in a range of settings, such as educational institutions, the workplace, or the home. Generally, instruction is delivered through face-to-face interaction between teachers/instructors and students, although other means and mediums of delivery, such as by correspondence, radio, television or the internet, may be used.
Education and training is delivered by teachers or instructors who explain, tell or demonstrate a wide variety of subjects. The commonality of processes involved, such as the labour inputs of teachers and instructors, and their subject matter knowledge and teaching expertise, uniquely distinguishes this industry from other industries.
Education support services include a range of support services which assist in the provision of education, such as curriculum setting and examination marking.
Education and Training includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Health Care and Social Assistance Division includes units mainly engaged in providing human health care and social assistance. Units engaged in providing these services apply common processes, where the labour inputs of practitioners with the requisite expertise and qualifications are integral to production or service delivery.
Health Care and Social Assistance includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Arts and Recreation Services Division includes units mainly engaged in the preservation and exhibition of objects and sites of historical, cultural or educational interest; the production of original artistic works and/or participation in live performances, events, or exhibits intended for public viewing; and the operation of facilities or the provision of services that enable patrons to participate in sporting or recreational activities, or to pursue amusement interests.
This division excludes units that are involved in the production, or production and distribution of motion pictures, videos, television programs or television and video commercials. These units are included in the Information Media and Telecommunications Division.
Arts and Recreation Services includes the following groups and sub-categories:
The Other Services Division includes a broad range of personal services; religious, civic, professional and other interest group services; selected repair and maintenance activities; and private households employing staff. Units in this division are mainly engaged in providing a range of personal care services, such as hair, beauty and diet and weight management services; providing death care services; promoting or administering religious events or activities; or promoting and defending the interests of their members.
Also included are units mainly engaged in repairing and/or maintaining equipment and machinery (except ships, boats, aircraft, or railway rolling stock) or other items (except buildings); as well as units of private households that engage in employing workers on or about the premises in activities primarily concerned with the operation of households.
The Other Services Division excludes units mainly engaged in providing buildings or dwellings repair and maintenance services (included in the Construction or Administrative and Support Services Divisions as appropriate), and units mainly engaged in providing repair and maintenance services of books, ships, boats, aircraft or railway rolling stock (included in the Manufacturing Division).
Other Services includes the following groups and sub-categories: